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What To Watch
13 Onscreen Friendships You Can Always Rely on to Make You Laugh
Who says fictional friends aren’t real friends?
By Ashley Lee
Oct. 17, 2025
13 Best Friendship Movies and Shows - Netflix Tudum
It’s happened before, it’ll happen again: You and your friends share your schedules in the group chat, finally find time in your crazy calendars, make very advance arrangements for a get-together, and then — for one reason or another — those plans fall through.
While you wait for that group hang to manifest, there are plenty of friends right here for you on Netflix — and on demand. There are teenage girls planning their bat mitzvahs, Italian grandmas who make the best spaghetti, former pop stars trying to stage a comeback, and even drag queens who can read anyone for filth (when they deserve it, of course). All here to entertain and make you laugh.
Regardless of who they are, where they live, or how they all came together in the first place, all of these close-knit friend groups will feel like your close-knit friend group. Hit play on any of these titles for a feel-good hang with the besties whose schedules never conflict.
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Crashing
Before the acclaimed writer and actor Phoebe Waller-Bridge won all the awards for Fleabag, she created this six-episode gem of a series, in which a motley crew of twentysomethings move in together as property guardians of a disused hospital. They agree to safeguard the building in exchange for lowered rent. (So yes, they’re saving money, but they’re also putting on elaborate scavenger hunts, hosting dinner parties, and, of course, hooking up with each other.) Another reason to stream this 2016 release: The ensemble cast includes Bridgerton breakout Jonathan Bailey.
Dead to Me
Sure, marriage might be “til death do us part,” but a dead body doesn’t get in the way of real friendship. In fact, this dark comedy demonstrates how a hit-and-run can actually be the thing that forges a bond between two women, played by Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini. The Emmy-nominated series from Liz Feldman is a profound exploration of grief, a celebration of a perfectly landed insult, and an acting showcase for James Marsden. Any hour watching these three seasons is time well spent.
Derry Girls
To Bridgerton audiences, Nicola Coughlan is Penelope Featherington. But to the devout fans of 2018’s Derry Girls, she is Clare Devlin, enrolled at a Catholic secondary school during the final years of the Troubles. The series brings us the usual adolescent milestones and misadventures with an extra dose of angst, since they’re coming of age at the end of the Northern Ireland conflict. Its three seasons are as heartfelt as they are hilarious — they’re based on the real-life experiences of creator Lisa McGee — and they’re peppered with nostalgic ’90s needle drops.
Girls5eva
There’s nothing better than when your favorite underrated girl group gets back together, especially when they’re played by Sara Bareilles, Busy Philipps, Paula Pell, and Renée Elise Goldsberry. Hilarity ensues as the women attempt a comeback while also juggling family obligations, romance demands, and the pain of middle age. These three seasons by creator Meredith Scardino are packed with back-to-back punchlines, catchy original songs, and cameos by the likes of Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert, Bowen Yang, Vanessa Williams, Amy Sedaris, Mario Lopez, and Ingrid Michaelson.
Grace and Frankie
In real life, it’s probably unlikely that the ex-wife of your ex-husband’s new husband ends up being your best friend. But in Marta Kauffman and Howard J. Morris’s acclaimed show, it’s happening, and it’s comedy gold. Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin — both of whom received Emmy Award nominations for their performances — lead the pack, with Sam Waterston, Martin Sheen, Brooklyn Decker, Ethan Embry, June Diane Raphael, and Baron Vaughn as their family members. Seven seasons with the iconic duo just isn’t enough.
Nonnas
Like great food, great friends are a comfort and make you feel like you’re family. In Stephen Chbosky’s Emmy-nominated movie, Vince Vaughn plays a grieving man who opens an Italian restaurant in Staten Island and hires grandmothers to put their generations-old recipes on the menu. Though the nonnas — played by Lorraine Bracco, Talia Shire, Brenda Vaccaro, and Susan Sarandon — initially butt heads, they become the friend group they didn’t know they were missing. Even better: This warm 2025 release is based on a real-life New York City eatery.
Otherhood
Of course, good friends take vacations together. But best friends put together trips to get dressed up, go clubbing, eat pizza, and confront their respective sons for making them feel bad on Mother’s Day. Angela Bassett, Patricia Arquette, and Felicity Huffman play the matriarchal besties who back each other up every step of the way; Sinqua Walls, Jake Hoffman, and Jake Lacy portray their kids. Cindy Chupack directs the 2019 comedy, adapted from the novel Whatever Makes You Happy by William Sutcliffe.
Someone Great
Real friends will help you get through a breakup, call you out on your questionable choices, and help you celebrate your new job, even if it’s across the country — and all in the same day. That’s what’s happening in this 2019 movie, in which Gina Rodriguez stars as a music journalist who convinces her girls (Brittany Snow and DeWanda Wise) to take the day off work and go on an adventure. Lakeith Stanfield, Rosario Dawson, and Alex Moffat are also among the cast of Jennifer Kaytin Robinson’s comedy.
Survival of the Thickest
Michelle Buteau co-created and stars in this life-affirming show as a woman who, after catching her boyfriend cheating on her, decides to blow up her life, start completely fresh, and finally chase her long-delayed dream of becoming a stylist. Tone Bell, Tasha Smith, Garcelle Beauvais, Anthony Michael Lopez, and Peppermint play the supportive New Yorkers (and fabulous drag queens) who help her reach her goal in the series, based on Buteau’s acclaimed book of essays of the same name.
The Four Seasons
Alan Alda’s beloved 1981 movie followed three couples as they travel together in various places throughout the course of a year. This series adaptation — created by Tina Fey, Lang Fisher, and Tracey Wigfield — updates and expands on that premise. Fey, Steve Carell, Marco Calvani, Colman Domingo, Will Forte, and Kerri Kenney-Silver depict the six longtime friends, many of whom have known each other since their college days. Since these eight episodes only take place during their scheduled getaways, you’ll feel like you’re always on vacation with friends.
The Letdown
Crying babies, aching breasts, sleep deprivation — being a new mom is hard. Not to mention the loneliness and anxiety about practicing the right parenting style or possibly making every mistake imaginable. Alison Bell gets it. She co-created and stars in this 2016 Australian series about a woman who finds moments of respite from the frustrations of motherhood in her oddball mothers’ group. Viewers needn’t be parents themselves to watch this show’s two seasons and celebrate how wonderful it is to feel seen and understood.
Wine Country
Wine tasting in Napa Valley for the weekend with your oldest friends? Sounds like a great idea, even if everyone doesn’t end up exactly following that meticulously planned itinerary. Amy Poehler directs this 2019 movie about a debaucherous birthday getaway — Poehler stars alongside Rachel Dratch, Ana Gasteyer, Maya Rudolph, Paula Pell, and Emily Spivey. The cast is as stacked as the California wineries, with Tina Fey, Maya Erskine, Jason Schwartzman, and Cherry Jones also playing supporting roles in the film.
You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah
It’s one of those things that are just inevitable about adolescence: two teenage girlfriends, fighting over the same boy. Sunny Sandler and Samantha Lorraine lead this 2023 comedy as the besties in question, and the rest of the Sandler family — Adam Sandler and his wife, Jackie Sandler, and their other daughter, Sadie Sandler — are all part of the cast. Idina Menzel, Sarah Sherman, Jackie Hoffman, and Luis Guzmán also appear in the 2023 movie, which is based on the young adult novel of the same name and directed by Sammi Cohen.
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